Project Talent Blog

As Alzheimer’s Crisis Looms, Researchers Redouble their Efforts

Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia are having a profound and devastating effect on families across the country. As the Baby Boom generation continues to age, the situation is set to get much worse before it gets better. Today, 5 million Americans live with Alzheimer’s disease. By 2050, that number could reach 16 million–and the cost of caring for sufferers of will balloon to $1 trillion per year.

The Project Talent study is uniquely positioned to contribute to the field of Alzheimer’s research. Since 1960, researchers have collected vast amounts of data from its 440,000 participants on subjects ranging from educational attainment and health to personality traits and cognitive abilities. The data gathered allows us to search for patterns to explain why some people develop dementia later in life, while are ‘protected’ from this outcome. Findings from this research can help experts design health policies and interventions to combat the scourge of dementia.

Project Talent is proud to be part of efforts to solve the mystery of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Our forthcoming Project Talent Aging Study (PTAS), to be launched in 2018, aims to contribute valuable information to advance the field of dementia research. We thank each of the 18,000 participants involved in PTAS for their participation in this important study! By contributing information on topics including health, education, and work-life, you are helping to advance important research that can spare future generations the pain, and cost, of Alzheimer’s disease.